


Technomance Her

by Bajillian



Category: TWRP | Tupper Ware Remix Party (Band)
Genre: Gen, I have at least another chapter to post so look out for that once it's done, more tags will be added as I go, rated for the fuck word, synthesize her, the other boys will show up next, this has been a wip for so long, we love song based fics in this house
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-02-18 08:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21990940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bajillian/pseuds/Bajillian
Summary: You know the Synthesize Her music video? Think of that, except the main character hasn't seen the smashed synth because, well...Sung fucked up.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 26





	1. Synthesis Complete

Sung was undercover at Nova High. He had recently learned about Earth high schools, and read that there was a bullying problem among them. With Boredom out of the way, he supposed he could attempt to tackle a new issue.

Of course, this seemed to be difficult at first. He looked human enough when he wore contacts over his glowing eyes and a uniform over his core. However, he wasn’t necessarily qualified to be a teacher or a student at the school. So he settled for the next best opening: a janitor. At least with this position, he could observe the hallway life a bit easier.

Within the last few weeks of the year, the high school was hosting a talent show. He was pleasantly surprised to learn that some Earth school traditions were similar to what he was used to, and he even considered signing up, but he figured he’d better lay low. Instead, he did his part by letting a student, Lauren Murphy, work on her project in his janitor office. She said she was building a synth to use at the talent show - this brought back memories of his childhood, so it was important to him that he gave her that space.

For the most part, he left her alone to concentrate. But while he was sweeping the hall, he saw a different student sneak out of the room. He quickly made his way over to make sure Lauren was safe, and thankfully she wasn’t there, but something bad still happened.

The synth had been smashed. 

With some quick thinking, he came up with an idea. He was new to technomancy, and didn’t use it too often because of this fact. But maybe this was a good opportunity to use it. What could go wrong? The synth was smashed into pieces, and he was the only one in the room, so if anything went horribly, he knew how to take care of himself. 

He set his broom aside and brought his hands up, palms facing the damaged keytar. It took a lot of energy, but once he had a good focus on it, the pieces started to shake and a glowing green smoke filled the room. He hoped that no one else would notice the rattling of the metal - at least, not until he was done and out of there.

The smoke got so thick, he couldn’t see what he was working with anymore, but he took his flashing core as a sign to stop. It was quiet once the rattling calmed down, save for Sung’s heavy breathing. He still needed practice to minimize energy drainage, it seemed. And maybe use a gas mask next time, but the smoke was clearing pretty quickly.

He gasped when he didn’t see a fixed synth sitting on the table.

Instead, there was a body.

Metal instead of flesh, wires in place of veins. The face was a screen and there were buttons lining the chest. It was definitely not human, but was a body, nonetheless. 

For the moment, he was distracted, but he soon realized that Lauren was going to be back any second to get ready for the talent show. He couldn’t just leave the not-a-synth-anymore here for anyone to discover. Think fast.

He opened a nearby closet to pull out a project he had been working on. Coincidentally, it was a new keytar. It was a little more angular and silver than Fuck Thrust, and it had a bright yellow stripe, silver sparkles, and five circular lights to give it that extra pizazz. Originally, Sung planned on giving it to Lauren as a gift for completing the school year, but he figured using it to hide what he royally fucked up was also a good plan.

Very carefully, he set the keytar down onto the table, and then scooped up the new being. At the same time, footsteps came closer, and he only had enough time to jump into the closet that the keytar was in before so he could hide both himself and the living synth.

The footsteps belonged to Lauren. She seemed to be confused, but mostly excited, at the sight of the fixed keytar. Not that she could really ask questions anyway, her turn in the talent show was in a couple minutes, and she could safely return the borrowed instrument after it was over.

Once the coast was clear, Sung came out of hiding and set the body down onto the table again. He made a ‘room unavailable’ sign to hang outside of the door before he locked it so he could concentrate on whatever situation he got himself into.

Sung reached towards their neck to place two fingers against where the carotid artery would usually be. No pulse. But there was some kind of soft whirring happening throughout the body, which was cold to the touch. The metal was colorful, mostly consisting of yellows, pinks, and purples. There were lots of wires peeking out near the joints, and the whole body closely resembled the synth that Lauren had originally made. This made sense, since that’s what this being was made of. What didn’t make sense to Sung was how he had fixed the synth enough that it was now a person.

He sat them up to observe their back. More wires lined their spine, and at the base of their skull was a section for batteries. Maybe those could help power them on. He gently rested them back down, laying them on their side this time so he could have access to the back of their head, before looking for the correct batteries. The room was a bit of an unorganized mess, but he found some that he hoped were still good.

Still being careful, he placed the batteries in and closed it up. The face turned on, and the screen read: 

> WAVEFORM SELECT… LOADING…  
> PARAMETERS SET… LOADING…

It was only when digital eyes appeared on the screen and the being sat up that Sung let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He offered them a smile, and held out his hand.

“Doctor Sung. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

They looked down at Sung’s hand. Then back up at his face. They weren’t sure what they were supposed to do, so they conveyed this by tilting their head slightly in confusion.

Sung awkwardly took his hand back. “Right. Okay. I get it, you just came into existence and probably only know how to be a synth.” 

The being just continued to stare. 

“That’s fine, I can give you a name. I named my own keytar, you know. Her name’s Fuck Thrust. I’m sure you two would get along really well!”

More staring.

Sung cleared his throat. “Not a talker, I see. That’s also fine. How about I call you…” He thought for a moment, and then snapped his fingers when he thought of something. “Roland. Ro for short. Sound good?”

Ro’s screen switched back to words, this time reading:

> GIVEN NAME… ROLAND, RO

“Perfect,” Sung said, still smiling. “So… Can you talk at all?”

Ro’s eyes returned to their face so they could study the room. Take in information. “THIS ROOM IS FAMILIAR.” Their voice was robotic, slightly higher pitched, and had a bit of a sing-song tone to it. Not quite the sound of a talkbox, but a similar idea.

Sung jumped at the sound of the voice. He took that as a ‘yes’ to his question, and hoped no one could hear it from outside of the room. “Is it? What do you remember?”

“I REMEMBER…” Ro continued to look around before they spotted the blueprints used to make them. They processed that information, and used it to recall the name of the being who created them. “LAUREN.”

Sung smiled, but it soon faded when Ro spotted a hammer that was left on the table and their screen turned red.

“I REMEMBER… DEATH.” The red screen switched to a picture of the girl who had smashed them to pieces. “THIS IS MY ENEMY.” Ro reached for the hammer and moved to stand up.

“No, no, hold on!” Sung’s first instinct was to reach forward and press the buttons on Ro’s collarbones in case one of them was an off button. Somehow, his plan worked, and he was quick to catch them before they could fall to the ground. He set them back onto the table and grabbed his phone to text Meouch. He needed some help. Fast.


	2. Tupper Ware Rescue Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Cone Daddy - 7:38 PM] hey, remember when I first got my janitor job and you told me not to get into trouble
> 
> [coolcat69 - 7:39 PM] yeah  
> [coolcat69 - 7:39 PM] why? what’d you do

[Cone Daddy - 7:38 PM] hey, remember when I first got my janitor job and you told me not to get into trouble

[coolcat69 - 7:39 PM] yeah  
[coolcat69 - 7:39 PM] why? what’d you do

[Cone Daddy - 7:39 PM] uh. well.  
[Cone Daddy - 7:44 PM] so the talent show is tonight, right? and Lauren wanted to build her own synth and use it to perform in the show but someone came in and smashed it up with a hammer so I figured I could fix it bc I’m a doctor and that’s kinda my thing so I used my technomancy even though I had a feeling that it was going to be a bad idea but I did anyway and I must’ve done something wrong bc now I have an unconscious living synth in its own body and idk what to do about it help

[coolcat69 - 7:46 PM] YOU WHAT? DOC WTF THIS IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT I TOLD YOU TO DO

[Cone Daddy - 7:47 PM] I know, can we leave the lecture for later so we can figure out how I’m going to fix this

[coolcat69 - 7:47 PM] wait we?? why the fuck are you bringing me into YOUR problem? what do I get out of this?

[Cone Daddy - 7:49 PM] your best friend doesn’t go to jail or end up on some watch list  
[Cone Daddy - 7:49 PM] Commander please, this is really serious

[coolcat69 - 7:50 PM] alright alright, how about this  
[coolcat69 - 7:52 PM] me and the guys can drive the van over there. Hogan can hack into the cameras to make sure they ain’t watching us, Phobos can keep an eye out and send us some kinda warning if we need to watch out, and you and me can carry the body out  
[coolcat69 - 7:53 PM] how big is the body?

[Cone Daddy - 7:53 PM] just a little taller than me, thin  
[Cone Daddy - 7:53 PM] but that sounds like a good plan, do you think we can make it out before the show ends at 9

[coolcat69 - 7:55 PM] yeah probably. I’m gonna convince the guys and we’ll be there in 10 min tops ok?

[Cone Daddy - 7:55 PM] yeah. I’ll wait in the front lobby

[coolcat69 - 7:56 PM] omw

As promised, the van full of Sung’s reluctant bandmates pulled up within ten minutes. Havve stayed in the van while the other two met Sung in the lobby. Both wore hoods over their heads to somewhat mask their alien appearance as they walked down the hallway to where the room was. Only Sung and Meouch went into the room so Phobos could keep watch outside.

“Lemme guess,” Meouch said. “They’re under the sheet shaped like’a body?”

Sung huffed and walked with the cat man over to said body. “I panicked! And no one usually comes in here, anyway.”

Meouch slowly removed the sheet, and his eyes went wide. “Y’know what, I’m impressed,” he said. “I didn’t know it was possible ta’make a whole person outta smashed pieces, just like that.”

“Yeah, I didn’t know, either,” Sung mumbled.

“Can they talk n’stuff?” Meouch asked. “Or do they only speak in, like, synth sounds?”

“They talk, yes. Just a little bit before I had to turn them off.”

“Why’d ya have ta’turn ‘em off?”

Sung sighed. “They remembered who smashed them while they were still a synth, and I think they wanted to get revenge.”

Meouch raised his eyebrows and looked down at the body. “Y’know you can make’a robot without givin’ it murderous intent, right?”

“I didn’t _mean_ to! And it’s not like they want to kill everyone, they’re just mad at the one person who wronged them. But we can deal with that later, we need to get them out of here.”

“Yeah, alright. I’m just gonna make sure the coast’s still clear.” Meouch took out his phone and texted the boys’ group chat.

[coolcat69 - 8:11 PM] how’re we looking

[FUCK OFF - 8:11 PM] THE CAMERAS ARE STILL OFF. THE HUMANS HAVE NOT SUSPECTED A THING.  
[FUCK OFF - 8:11 PM] DUMBASSES.

[coolcat69 - 8:12 PM] rad  
[coolcat69 - 8:12 PM] what about you, Phobos

[SpaceKnight - 8:12 PM] hall is clear!  
[SpaceKnight - 8:12 PM] wait no  
[SpaceKnight - 8:12 PM] you need to hide, someone’s heading for your room

“We gotta hide,” Meouch said. “Someone’s headin’ here, we gotta hurry.”

“Fuck, uh… the closet! Grab Ro, we’ll hide in the closet.” Sung scrambled to get the sheet back onto the body.

“Who the fuck’s Ro??”

“The body! Grab the body!”

Meouch quickly helped to pick up the body, and then rushed over to the closet. “Doc, we’re not gonna all fit in here.”

Sung had to think fast. “Then just you two hide. It’s fine if someone sees me, I work here,” he said, shooing them into the closet. “Quickly!”

Just as the closet door closed, the door to the room opened, and Sung did his best to act natural.


	3. Unlock Your Hidden Potential

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sung gives a pep talk while Meouch and Ro are cramped in the closet.

Lauren stopped in her tracks as soon as she made it through the door and saw Sung, whose idea of ‘acting natural’ was to stand in the middle of the room in a power pose. Maybe, just maybe, puffing his chest out and resting his fists on his hips would make him look more like a statue.

Or maybe not.

“...Mr. Sung?” she asked as she walked towards him. She let out a chuckle. “Did I walk in at the wrong time?”

At first, Sung didn’t answer. He secretly hoped there was still time to fool her so she’d leave. But he knew she was smarter than that, and he let out the breath he was holding.

Lauren gave him a funny look. “I could… go, if you want.”

“No, no, it’s fine, I just finished, ah… my daily stretches,” Sung explained. “They’re really important, you know. I highly recommend doing them if you don’t already.” He gave her a smile to hide his rapidly-building anxiety.

“Oh, um… okay, I’ll keep that in mind.” Lauren chuckled again before she walked over to a nearby table.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at the talent show?”

Lauren grabbed a water bottle she had left on the table. “Yeah, I’m up next, but I forgot this,” she said. She took a few slow sips, and then got quiet.

“...Well! You better be going, then,” Sung said as he started to gently usher her towards the door. “Good luck out there!”

Lauren walked as he guided her, but soon stopped. “What if I’m not good enough?” she blurted out.

Sung froze, and all of his worry about the Living Synth stuffed in the closet with one of his best friends, melted into concern for this student. “What?”

“Like, what if I get up there, and I mess up?” Lauren continued. “I’m just… so nervous, and everyone’s eyes are gonna be on me, and I was supposed to perform before, but I felt nauseous, so I let everyone else go before me, and this night already started off on a weird note because I’d built my keytar, but when I came back, it was replaced by another one, and…”

“Hey. Deep breaths.”

Lauren’s rambling trailed off, and she did her best to take some deep, shaky breaths. “Sorry.”

“No need to apologize, you’re allowed to be nervous,” Sung said, keeping his voice soft. “But passing out from forgetting to breathe isn’t going to help the situation.” He crouched down a little to be closer to eye-level. “What matters is that you have fun, right? You’ve been talking nonstop about this talent show, I know you’re super excited. Sometimes, excitement feels a lot like nervousness.”

Lauren gave a little nod, but she didn’t seem to be fully convinced.

“Can I… tell you a secret?” There was hesitation in Sung’s voice.

Lauren furrowed her brows, but gave another nod. “Sure.”

“I’m actually in a band, and I play the keytar, myself,” Sung said. “I’ve been doing it for… a really long time. And you know what? I still get nervous before every show. So I turn that nervous energy into excited energy! The butterflies in my stomach are actually there to help me fly on stage!”

Lauren’s jaw dropped slightly as she listened. She wasn’t sure what band had a member named Mr. Sam Sung in it, but she trusted him enough to believe what he was saying. It definitely helped her feel better.

“As for your keytar, I made you that new one,” Sung explained. “I made sure to build it with fun and good vibes.”

“Oh, wow! Thank you, Mr. Sung,” Lauren said, already more excited than nervous. “But… what happened to the one I built?”

Sung hummed. “I’m not sure. I think someone might’ve taken it, so I’m in the middle of investigating.” He was honestly surprised at how quickly he was able to think. “I’ll keep you updated, but you can use the one I built for now.”

Lauren smiled and was practically bouncing in place. “I will!” She took one more deep breath. “Okay. I think I’m ready now, thank you again!”

“No need to thank me,” Sung said with a wave of his hand. “It’s my job.” A crash could be heard from the closet, which brought back his anxiety. “Go out there, show them how it’s done, and have fun!”

Lauren was too set on being excited for the talent show to really pay attention to the crash, and she quickly made her way back to the stage.

Sung sighed and closed the door before checking in on Meouch and Ro. “Dude, what the hell?”

“Sorry. While ya gave ‘er yer lil’ pep talk, my arm was startin’ ta’go numb. I almost dropped ‘em,” Meouch said. “Shit’s heavy. An’ I thoughtchya said no one usually comes here.”

“Yeah. _Usually._ ” Sung reached to take the body out of Meouch’s hands. “Also, ‘Shit’ has a name, remember? It’s Ro.”

Meouch mumbled his thanks as he handed the body to Sung and made his way out of the cramped space. “Y’named ‘em Ro?”

“Short for Roland.”

“Guess it’s better than Fuck Thrust.”

“Hey! Don’t bring her into this. She’s been through enough,” Sung said. “Ask the guys if it’s okay to leave again.”

Meouch got out his phone to do just that.

[coolcat69 - 8:21 PM] crisis averted, we good to go?

[FUCK OFF - 8:21 PM] YES.

[SpaceKnight - 8:21 PM] yup!

“Alright, less’go before someone else walks in,” Meouch said. He opened the door for Sung, who cautiously made his way into the hallway.

Phobos stayed a little ways in front of Sung, while Meouch stayed a few feet behind. They weren’t sure how they were going to explain the giant sheet-covered body, but luckily, they were able to get into the van without any trouble. Havve made sure to turn the security cameras back on before they drove off. Havve and Phobos were in the front, while Sung, Meouch, and Ro were squished in the back.

“DOCTOR, WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO DO NEXT.” Havve kept his eyes on the road, but was still interested in the situation. 

“I’m not sure, I was too focused on getting out of there,” Sung admitted. “I’ll figure it out once I get to it. For now, I need to take a breather.” The next sentence was mumbled. “And think about how I’m going to explain this to Lauren.”

“Lauren?” Meouch asked. “Y’mean the keytar student?”

Sung nodded. “I told her the original keytar was stolen, and I was investigating it.”

“Yer not gonna tell ‘er ‘bout…” Meouch gestured to Ro. “... _this_ , are ya?” 

“I might have to. Eventually. But I don’t know yet.”

Meouch shook his head and decided to drop the conversation for now.


	4. Waveform Select, Loading

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sung begins to tackle the issue one step at a time. The other boys are doing their best to help.

The first thing Sung did as soon as the boys got home was to set Ro down on the couch and promptly swat away Havve’s curious hand. “Okay. I’m going to go take these contacts out, have a nice, long shower, and then I guess I’ll try to figure out my next course of action,” he said. “In the meantime, please… _please do not touch Ro at all._ ” He really stressed that last part of the sentence. “Got it?”

The other three nodded.

“Good. I’ll be back after.”

As soon as Sung left the room, the first thing Havve did was reach for the sheet covering Ro.

“Hogan,” Meouch said as he slapped the robot’s hand. “Didjya hear what the Doc said? Don’t touch ‘em.”

“THE DOCTOR IS NOT IN CHARGE OF ME.”

“In this situation, he kinda is. Yer gonna get us in trouble.”

Havve’s eyes flickered as he glanced between Meouch and Ro. “WHAT IS THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN.”

“Man, I don’t fuckin’ know, the Doc said Ro wants’ta kill someone,” Meouch said as he gently attempted to move Havve away. “Whaddif they try ta’kill us?”

“I WILL KILL THEM BEFORE THEY HAVE THE CHANCE.”

“ _No,_ Hogan.” Meouch successfully got Havve to sit across the room where Ro was. “The Doc’s already under a lotta stress. Let’s follow ‘is orders fer now and try not ta’cause trouble, ‘kay?”

“FINE. THOUGH I WOULD MUCH RATHER CAUSE TROUBLE.”

Phobos, meanwhile, was crouched beside Ro. It was hard to make out what the robot could look like under the sheet, but he trusted Sung to know what he was talking about, and only looked without touching. The quiet bickering behind him made him chuckle, and he decided to turn his attention to the two children instead.

Sung came back a little while after. He looked much more relaxed, but his eyes were duller in color than usual. He pulled up a chair to sit near Ro. And stared.

“...So. Whaddaya gonna do with ‘em?” Meouch asked as the three boys made their way back to the new friend.

Sung stayed quiet for a moment. Opened his mouth to speak. Closed it again. Hesitated. He wasn’t too thrilled about his idea, but it seemed to be the only option. “I’m going to reprogram them,” he said. “At least, their memories. Just a little. I don’t want them having any kind of reason to harm another being.”

_“Sounds reasonable,”_ Phobos’ voice echoed through the others’ minds.

“Then, I’m… I don’t know, I may just give Ro to Lauren.”

“Yer gonna give a kid a whole-ass robot?” Meouch asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Technically, Ro _is_ hers, I just brought them to life,” Sung reasoned. “So I’m giving them back. Plus, robots are kind of the norm in human culture by now, right? And Lauren’s pretty good with building things. I’ll make sure they’re safe before I let them go.”

“Whaddaya gonna tell ‘er when she asks ‘bout the synth ya said yer lookin’ for?”

Silence.

“Doc…?”

“I’ll come up with something. Right now, my focus is the first step, which is dealing with Ro’s memories.” Sung looked up at the others. “Phobos, can you get me my tools?”

Phobos nodded and left the room.

“Yer gonna do this right on the couch?”

“Would you prefer I do it in your bedroom, Commander?” Sung asked, clearly already annoyed with the situation. 

Meouch raised his eyebrows. He was a little surprised by Sung’s attitude. “No need ta’get sassy with me,” he said. “Just thought ya’d need more light.”

“Good idea. Can you get a flashlight to hold for me?”

Meouch rolled his eyes, but went to go get a flashlight anyway. Once both he and Phobos were back, Sung was able to get to work. It wasn’t until Sung had removed the panel on Ro’s head and started pushing the buttons that were hidden that Meouch spoke again.

“How d’ya know which memories ta’erase?”

“It’s like a computer,” Sung explained as he continued to work. “There are files, see? Each one has a set of memories. Luckily, Ro hasn’t been… alive for too long, so there aren’t a lot of files.”

Meouch looked closer at the screen. “The file names’re just… random numbers an’letters. Which one’s the right one ta’delete?”

“I’m trying to figure that out,” Sung mumbled. “I may have to play them on the screen here.”

“DO NOT BE A LITTLE BITCH.” Havve reached towards the buttons. “DELETE ALL OF THE MEMORIES.”

“Not helping, Havve,” Sung said, swatting the robot’s hand away. “I already fucked up. I want to do this right.”

“SUIT YOURSELF.”

Sung ignored Havve as he scrolled through the files. There were only a few labeled with an ‘important’ symbol. With a shrug, he played the first one.

_Lauren appeared on the screen. It was a video from Ro’s point of view, right when their synth version had been finished. Lauren looked proud of herself, and she excitedly picked up Ro to test them out. They worked perfectly._

The boys smiled at the sight (Havve couldn’t physically smile, but still). However, the smiles dissappeared with the next memory.

_The student that Sung had seen sneaking out of the room appeared on the screen. She wore safety glasses and held a hammer that she soon slammed repeatedly against Ro. The memory cut out rather abruptly._

“That’s the one I need to delete.” Sung started to push the proper buttons to do just that. 

“Wait, Doc.”

“Hm?”

“Can’t ya… use it as evidence ta’get the kid in trouble?” Meouch asked. “It pissed me off, y’can’t just let that slide.”

Sung paused. “I agree with you, but I can’t exactly show the footage without having to explain the robot with memories.”

“What if you transferred the video onto a flashdrive or another device?” Phobos suggested. _“You can say a student’s camera got destroyed instead.”_

“That’s… actually a good idea, Phobos,” Sung said. “Havve, can I store it on you for now?”

“I SUPPOSE.”

Sung carefully opened Havve’s chest plate to retrieve a cable that he could attach to Ro. Then, he worked on uploading the memory to Havve.

“THIS FEELS INTIMATE. BEING PLUGGED INTO ANOTHER BEING LIKE MYSELF.”

“Hogan. Stop.”

Havve leaned closer to Ro. “ASK ME TO DINNER FIRST.”

“ _Hogan._ ”

Havve’s eyes flickered, and if he had the capacity to, he would have laughed or given a shit-eating grin.

“Okay,” Sung began, unplugging the cable from Ro and placing it back into Havve. “It shoud be in there. You got it, Havve?” Havve nodded. “Good.” He deleted the memory from Ro, and then stared curiously at the third memory.

“Whaddaya think that one is?” Meouch asked.

“Well. There’s only one way to find out. I don’t like prying into people’s memories, but I guess I need to make sure it’s not harmful.” Sung let out a breath and selected the memory.


	5. Search For A New Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys watch the third memory and Sung comes up with the rest of his plan.

It took a second to play, but once it did, it was clear that the memory had taken place right after the previous one. A crack and some static obstructed the view of parts of it, but the boys could mostly see what was going on. 

_Sung appeared on the screen, and studied the broken pieces. He seemed to hesitate before setting the broom aside and holding his hands up. The screen shook as a glowing screen smoke filled the room, and it only stopped when the circular light ahead flashed a couple times._

“What??” Meouch said as soon as the memory stopped playing. “Doc, was that… That was you, right?”

Sung nodded. “That was right before I saw Ro’s body,” he said. “I wish I could’ve seen the point where the parts turned into a body, but the smoke was too thick.”

“Ya gonna delete it?” Meouch asked.

“Why would I delete it?”

“Isn’t Ro gonna be confused ‘bout why they were in pieces? ‘Cause they’re not gonna remember now thatchya got rid’a the other one.”

Sung hummed. “...Do they have to know?”

“I dunno, but I’m not gettin’ deep in’ta that ethical bullshit when it’s not my responsibility,” Meouch said. 

_“You should have a reason, whether it’s the truth or not, in case they ask,”_ Phobos suggested.

“I guess you’re right,” Sung said. “I’ll have to think of something.”

“Nah, Doc. Tell the truth,” Meouch said, which made Sung give him a questioning look. “Whatever ya tell Ro’s gotta line up with whatchya tell Lauren. She’s a smart girl, she could find the memory, not like it was hard ta’find. Things’ll get messy if it gets back ta’Ro. I say ya either tell the truth or ya gotta delete the memory.”

Sung sighed, and hovered over the delete button. The other boys watched in suspense, wondering what was going to happen. They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity.

“I’m going to have to tell the truth to the both of them,” Sung finally said as he took his hand away from the button. “I’m sure I could come up with some clever plan so they’d never find out, but I’ve already lied to Lauren once, and it feels so… bad.” He crossed his arms. “...If either of them ask about why I had to fix Ro, I’ll have to tell them it’s best that I don’t explain.”

“They might bother ya ‘bout it,” Meouch said.

“I know, but I’ll stand my ground,” Sung said. “The only other person who can know is the principal, but she can’t know where it came from. I’ll probably just say I set up a camera to protect Lauren’s project or something.” He worked on closing Ro back up. “I won’t turn them back on until they are with Lauren.”

“MAY I SUGGEST A NEW PLAN.”

“Yes, Havve?”

“I KEEP RO FOR MYSELF.”

“Hogan, can ya stop being a fuckin’ horny sonofabitch for two seconds,” Meouch said, glancing over at Havve. “We’ll getchya some hot metal ass once this is over, ‘kay?”

“FUCK YES.”

“Here’s the actual plan,” Sung began, choosing to ignore whatever the fuck was just talked about. “Lauren usually stays after school. I’ll explain the situation to her tomorrow, and then get her address so I can drop Ro off at her house.”

“Isn’t that, like… super creepy’n weird… probably illegal?” Meouch asked.

“We’re aliens living on Earth under fake identities, Commander,” Sung said. “Our situation is already weird and illegal. What’s one more to add to the list?”

“CAN I GIVE RO A KISS GOODBYE.”

“Ro will stay in my room so I can keep a close watch on them,” Sung said, once again choosing to ignore Havve. He picked Ro up with ease. “Could one of you help me drop off Ro tomorrow?”

“I’ll do it,” Meouch said.

“Alright. Get some good rest, then.” Sung started his journey to his room.

Meouch nodded. “Yeah, yeah. G’night.”


	6. Return To Wherever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sung and Meouch bring Ro home.

Sung didn’t get a whole lot of sleep that night. He managed a good three hours total, but when he wasn’t sleeping, he was staring at Ro. Yes. Staring. Despite his intense curiosity, he was too afraid of fucking up the situation further. Still, he was somehow pretty energetic when he made it to the high school.

The day went by unbelievably slow, but as soon as the last bell rang, he booked it to Lauren’s locker - as fast as he could go while acting natural and pretending like he was sweeping the halls. Luckily, they were pretty empty by then.

Lauren closed her locker door and nearly jumped out of her skin. “Oh, hey, Mr. Sung,” she said with a chuckle. 

Sung smiled. “Hey, how’ve you been?” he asked. “Did the talent show go well?”

“It totally did!” Lauren replied. “I got the first place medal! It was all thanks to your help with that keytar you gave me. Any luck with finding my old one?”

Sung had been smiling as she shared the good news, but the question made it falter a bit. “About that, ah…” He sighed. “I haven’t been… completely honest with you. Your keytar was never lost. I found it smashed where you had left it, and that’s why I gave you that new one.” He opened his mouth to continue speaking when he realized he hadn’t come up with a non-alien reason why the keytar was now a robot.

“Wait, what?” Lauren asked, brows furrowed. “Do you know who smashed it? I could probably put the pieces back together if you show me where they are.”

Sung stuttered for a moment before he decided to completely ignore the first question and blurt out an answer for the following statement. “See, the thing is, there aren’t any pieces left because I, uh… I have this… machine. That fixes things.” Real smooth, Sung. “And I forgot I’d had it on the robot settings, so I made a robot instead out of the pieces, and…”

No. He couldn’t lie to her again.

“Okay, look. Don’t tell anyone I told you this, but I’m an alien,” Sung said. Would it cost him his job if it got out? Probably. Would he have to leave Earth if everyone knew? Yes. But lying to Lauren wasn’t an option anymore. “I have the ability of technomancy, and when I tried to fix your keytar that way, I made a robot instead. I’m… really sorry.”

Lauren was quiet as she processed that information. It was a good minute before her confused expression turned into an amused one, and she chuckled. “Mr. Sung, you don’t have to make up some really cool-sounding story because you’re embarrassed about not using the right setting on your machine,” she said. “It’s okay.”

Sung blinked. He could work with this. “I’m glad you’re not… mad. I do have to ask you for a favor, though,” he said. “The robot, Ro, needs a home. And since they’re technically yours, I was wondering if you’d like to take care of them.”

Lauren perked up at that. “Wait, really??” she squeaked out. “You’re giving me my own robot? Of course I’d love to take them!”

Sung smiled, and felt a bit relieved. “I was thinking the easiest way to give them to you would be to drop them off at your house,” he said. “I’d just need your address, if that’s alright with you.”

“Say no more,” Lauren said, already writing down her address and handing him the piece of paper. “And don’t worry, my parents will be totally chill with this.”

“Perfect. I’ll probably be there around 6,” Sung said, pocketing the paper. “Sound good?”

Lauren nodded. “Yup! Thank you, Mr. Sung!” she said. “I’ll see you then!” She gave him one more smile before making her way to the library.

Sung smiled back at her, and then let out a sigh once she left. One meeting down, one to go. He took the flashdrive out of his pocket and made his way to the principal’s office to hand in the proof of the student with the bat. He decided to go with the story of a camera being smashed, and that he was somehow able to retrieve only that specific footage. Luckily, the principal bought it and was going to talk to the student in question.

* * *

Sung and Meouch (and Ro) made it to Lauren’s house at 6 on the dot. Sung told Meouch to stay in the car while he went up to ring the doorbell.

“Hey!” Lauren greeted as she opened the door. 

Sung smiled. “My buddy and I are here with Ro. They’re in the car right now, but is it okay if we bring them in?”

Lauren nodded. “Yeah, you can bring them right into the living room.”

Sung nodded and then turned to Meouch to give him a thumbs up. Meouch got out of the car and pulled out a large duffel bag before walking up to the door.

“Nice… mask?” Lauren said, eyebrow raised.

“Thanks,” Meouch answered simply, choosing not to explain that he was hiding his alien identity. “Where’s this goin’?”

“Oh, right in the living room,” Lauren said, and stepped aside to let them both in.

Meouch nodded before making his way into the house. He was careful as he set the bag down onto the couch, and started opening it up. Sung was next to step in, Lauren following close behind.

“So… why are they in a bag?” Lauren asked, eyeing the robot.

“They’re turned off right now, and it’s easier to carry them like that,” Sung said. Once Ro was out of the bag, Sung reached to rest his fingers on one of the buttons. “Ready?”

“Hell yeah!”

Sung switched them on and waited a few seconds before their screen lit up. Once again, the screen read:

> WAVEFORM SELECT… LOADING…  
> PARAMETERS SET… LOADING…

After a minute, digital eyes replaced the words, and Ro sat up. They took a moment to process their surroundings before their gaze stopped on Sung. “DOCTOR SUNG.”

Sung smiled. “That’s right.”

Lauren furrowed her brows. “Wait, I thought you were a janitor.”

Sung stuttered before quickly coming up with an excuse. “You see, that’s what my friends call me outside of work,” he said. “It’s sort of a… nickname.” Sure. A real name nickname.

“Huh. Alright.”

“LAUREN,” Ro said, now looking at the student.

Lauren’s face lit up, and any questions she had about Sung’s name went right out the window. “You know my name?”

“Of course they do, you built them,” Sung said with a chuckle. “Well. Their original form.”

“That’s incredible!” Lauren said, staring at Ro in awe.

“Ro, you’re going to be living with Lauren from now on. Is that alright?” Sung asked.

“YES.”

Sung and Meouch smiled, while Lauren squealed with joy. This was going way better than the rest of the situation had.

“Mr. Sung, this is, like… the best thing anyone’s ever given me,” Lauren said. “Thank you so much.”

Sung waved a hand. “You don’t have to thank me, they were technically yours to begin with,” he said with a chuckle. “Oh, that reminds me.” She reached into his thigh pouch and pulled out a small notebook. “I wrote up some instructions and troubleshooting things just in case you need them.”

Lauren nodded as she took the notebook. “This’ll be a big help,” she said.

“Take good care of them for me,” Sung said, and then looked at Ro. “And you take good care of Lauren.”

Ro’s digital eyes changed to ones to make them look like they were smiling. “I WILL. THANK YOU, DOCTOR SUNG.”

Sung let out a soft sigh, and after a beat, stood up straighter again. “Alright. We should go now, but let me know if you run into any problems,” he said. He grabbed the empty bag and motioned for Meouch to follow him to the door. 

“I’ll definitely keep you updated!” Lauren said, following as well. “You’re more than welcome to visit them. I’m sure they’d appreciate your company.”

Sung smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said. “Have a nice rest of your night.” Both boys gave her a wave before making their way back to the car. Sung was quiet, even as they drove off.

“Y’alright, man?” Meouch asked. “Yer bein’ awfully quiet fer someone who just solved this big problem.”

“It just… feels like I gave away my kid,” Sung said with a little chuckle. “I’ll be alright. I trust that Ro’s in good hands, and Lauren said I could see them if I wanted.”

“Plus, ya got three perfectly good kids at home,” Meouch joked. “But if ya want more, promise ta’give us a warnin’ next time.”

That got another laugh out of Sung. “No promises.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun with this one! Maybe I'll bring Ro back eventually, but for now, they're just gonna vibe with Lauren. Let me know what you thought!


End file.
